November 17th, 2018

"Look, you've gotta help me." Juniper Jones was frantic. She grabbed a fistful of her brown hair and pointed at the ends, which were turning white. "I wake up, my hair is like this, and now my eyes-" She released her hair and pointed at her eyes for emphasis. "-are fucking purple!"

Juniper- she prefers "June"- was standing at the doorstep of a large, mysterious, stone building on Bleeker street, in the heart of Manhattan. In the doorframe stood a tall man with black hair, who was dressed in blue robes, which were adorned with brown sashes. On his shoulders sat a deep red cape, with its collar popped up. He rested a hand on his chin, idly stoking his goatee, while he listened to a panicked Juniper yell about the day she's had.

"And then- oh my god, you won't believe- then a huge laser shot out of my hand at work today! It destroyed a wall! And got me fired!" June was using her arms expressively, motioning with and occasionally flailing them.

"Mhmm…" The man stood rigid and still, like a mountain against June's storm. He patiently waited for her to finish her story.

"And all this shit started when this dumb book-" She raised her right wrist to the man. It had a chain of beads wrapped around it, and connected to the beads was a miniature book. "- came alive and stuck itself to my wrist!"

"Let me see that." The man said as he reached out towards the book, and held it in his scarred and trembling hands. When June saw his hands, she wanted to ask what had happened to him, but she bit her tongue. He probably doesn't want to talk about it, she concluded. He examined the book with a careful blue eye, turning it over slowly and running his fingers over the leather. Upon closer inspection, the book had tiny, green, and faintly glowing runes all over it.

This can't be… can it? He thought as he turned the book once more. With great care he reached for small clasp that kept the book closed, and tried to pop it open. It wouldn't budge. But it must be it. There's no other explanation.

"Juniper, please come inside. We need to discuss this book of yours." He stepped back and turned around with a swish of his cape before heading into the building. June blinked and hesitated- Should I? What if he's going to murder me or something? She argued the possibilities in her head. But he's also the only person who can help me with all of this. June rolled the dice and decided to head inside.

For how small the building looked from the outside, the inside was massive. The foyer had solid, dark wooden floors, and on each side of the room large staircases curled and led to an upper level. The man was standing in the center of the room, waiting for June to follow and stand beside him.

"So… what do I call you?" She asked as she walked up to the stranger.

"Doctor Stephen Strange, at your service." He made a quick mock-bow, and looked at June with raised brows. "Hold onto your ass, this is going to get a little weird."

"Wait, what?" June barely had time to utter the words before Stephen started making quick hand gestures, ones that June didn't bother to memorize. Suddenly, something materialized out of thin air. June gasped audibly as she stared at it- it looked like a large bubble, about 6 feet high, but was made of hundreds of shifting, reflective facets. "Whaaat…" June drawled as she gazed in awe and confusion.

"That's not even the best part." Stephen said with a small smug grin on his face. He was used to getting this kind of reaction from muggles, as he affectionately dubbed them, but it didn't make it any less satisfying. It felt good, great even, to genuinely amazing and astound someone. "Follow me." He said as he grabbed June's arm, leading her towards the bubble.

"Wait, wait, oh my god, whatareyoudoing-" Despite her confusion and fear, she didn't struggle against him as he dragged her into the bubble behind him. Stephen stepped into it, and it swallowed him whole. And June was next. "Holy shit, holy shit!" June wheezed before she was pulled into the strange bubble.

She stumbled a bit upon entry, but she was otherwise fine. Stephen was standing calmly as ever, while a scared June looked around with wide eyes.

"What did you do?!" She exclaimed as she looked around. She could see through the bubble, out into the foyer of the building, but those ever shifting fractals made a barrier between her and the outside world.

"I put you in the mirror dimension. I know it's a lot to take in, but trust me, this is the place you need to be."

"Where I need to be?! Are you fucking crazy, this is just… unbelievable. Why did you take me here?" June was feeling scared, panicked, and more than a little flustered. Who was this man to just grab her and drag her into this… place? A bit of anger swelled inside of her. She quickly pointed behind her, ready to demand that he take her back, when a huge beam of yellow light shot out of her hand with tremendous force. June yelled and stumbled from the kickback, and Stephen took a step back, his eyes wide.

"Wow. That was impressive- it takes years to be able to harness energy like that and use it for combat purposes…" Stephen put his hand on his chin. His suspicions were getting closer and closer to being confirmed.

"Impressive? I could have killed some-" June turned around to look at the damage she caused, and her jaw dropped. There was no damage. Although it was a little hard to tell through the distortion of the moving facets, but from what she could see, there wasn't a picture out of place. "What? How?" June whipped back around to face Stephen, who had a smug grin on his face.

"That's the power of the mirror dimension. What happens in here doesn't affect the outside reality. This is a safe space used for practicing various spells and magics." Strange explained, stepping forward a bit.

"Wait, magic?" All this information was getting to be too much. Now Stephen was implying magic was real on top of everything else?

"What else do you think that beam was?" He gave her a small smirk. Seeing people struggle with the concept reminded him of his early days as a sorcerer. He too held doubts at the beginning, but the truth was eventually revealed to him. Now it was his turn to share the truth with June.

"I don't know!" June put her hands on the top of her head and turned back around, once again looking at the spot where she fired her beam – her magic beam. "I thought magic was just in fairy tales and stuff- how can it be real?"

"I can't explain the how, but I can assure you that it's very real. I'm a sorcerer – a user of this magic." Stephen reached his hand out to Juniper. "And you could be too. The book you've found has given you incredible powers. You need to learn how to control them, before you kill somebody." After seeing the power that the book had given this girl first hand, there was no doubt about what the book was. It had to be the book of the Vishanti. The book was literally the stuff of legends- it's the link between the mortal world, and the all-powerful trio of gods known as the Vishanti. The book hasn't shown up in recorded history in over 100 years, some people said it didn't even exist anymore, but yet… here it was.

Since June had somehow managed to find this book, Stephen's hand was forced. If she didn't receive training, or at least guidance, about her new powers and how to live with them, she would be extremely dangerous. The book had given her limiteless magical potential, but without learning how to harness it, she would be a beacon for any and all magical monsters in this dimension – she might as well have a sign that says "Attack me!" on her back. Monsters were drawn to sources of magical energy, and June had somehow made herself the largest source for it in 100 miles. She needed training. She needed protection. And it looked like Stephen was going to be the man to give it to her.

"Learn? To do magic?" June's brows furrowed in confusion. "Like, seriously?"

Stephen nodded. "Seriously. If you don't, you're going to be in danger. Monsters from all over will be drawn to you- you need to learn how to defend yourself."

"Monsters?" Her face went a little pale. "So those exist now too?" Although to be fair, after learning that real magic exists in this world, monsters weren't that big of a revelation. The more she thought about it, the less it surprised her. She knew of Thor, an Asgardian hero, and his thunder-hammer. I guess that's magic… she thought. "Okay, so what if I say yes? Are you going to teach me how to use this?" June motioned to the book strapped to her wrist.

"I can do my best. The book of the Vishanti- your book- is a bit of an enigma. But I can teach you how to harness the magical energy it puts off. How to control it." A moment of silence passed between them, and June appeared to be deep in thought, weighing her options. She really didn't have a choice, Stephen was right – if she didn't learn how to control herself, she could kill someone. She looked up at Stephen, her violet eyes hard with determination.

"Fine, where do we start?" She asked confidently.